Wednesday, June 23, 2010

Before Big Sister E was born, my husband and I did what a lot of people do to fill up the post-married but pre-kids days: get a dog. A sweet, not-so-bright, lovable dog.

He was my first baby and actually did a fairly good job preparing us for when we would have children - the feedings, the attention, the constant care. If we wanted to go out of town for a day, we had to set up babysitters... and don't even get me started trying to explain the complicated feeding/outside chart we had set up for him when we took a two week trip to Europe.

As much as we loved having a pet, boy, was it a lot of work. They require so much time and effort that by the time we had two children, it was almost like we had three. So now that he is no longer with us, I couldn't fathom having another pet until my girls are much, much older and could really help take care of it.

Unless there was such a thing as a no-hassle pet. One that necessitates barely any maintenance but could still teach my kids about responsibility and life and nature... but doesn't need to be cleaned up after. Just a dream? Not anymore.

Without further ado, let me introduce you to our newest tiny family members. Say hello to Alex and Alexander, complete in their EcoAquarium from Wild Creations.

Because I know you are wondering: Big Sister E named them after two of her friends from school.

The easiest animals I have ever come across, Alex and Alexander are African Dwarf Frogs that arrived here as a part of a Wild Creations Classic EcoAquarium Starter Kit. Frogs in the mail? Yes, indeed. Wild Creations takes great care to ship their animals overnight, giving you the tracking number so that you can be up to date on when your little creatures are going to arrive. If you're anything like us, you'll be pretty much waiting on the doorstep when that happens.

And when they did, we were ready. All we had to do to prepare was to have spring water on hand to fill their EcoAquarium, as the rest was all included in one simple box.

Big Sister E was immediately excited to help move Alex and Alexander to their new home and patiently waited while we sorted through each item that was sent. I was glad to see that Wild Creations had included well-detailed instructions as to setting up the EcoAquarium and preparing the African Dwarf Frogs for the move into their new habitat.

As Alex and Alexander rested and became accustomed to the room temperature water, it took only a few minutes to set up their EcoAquarium. There are so many innovative aspects that work together to make this the perfect habitat for these tiny frogs, yet so extremely easy to take care of for us.

Starting with the "Living Gravel" on the bottom, this gravel is specially conditioned with important organisms to constantly filter, clean and condition the water inside the EcoAquarium.

Because of this layer of gravel, there are no filtration systems or chemicals needed to keep the African Dwarf Frogs happy and healthy. Combine this with the included stalk of lucky bamboo to naturally aerate and provide oxygenation and photosynthesis... and Alex and Alexander were all ready to check out their new home.

The decorative blue gravel (there are more than 10 fun color choices) and rock were included also but are just to make their habitat pretty.

So what is required to take care of these little guys? Twice a week we drop four tiny pellets of food in through the hole in the top of the EcoAquarium and four times a year we will have to change their water (which is done by suctioning up most of the water with a baster and then pouring in clean spring water). That's it. That's really it.

So, twice a week Big Sister E and I push the food in and watch to see how quickly Alex and Alexander will go over to munch on it. And that's pretty much the extent of the work that is involved in having African Dwarf Frogs. Both Big Sister E and Little Sister B really like when they go from inactive to suddenly darting around their home, swimming from the bottom to the top and back.

As for me, I've found that they seem to do most of their "singing," a sort of buzzing sound, late at night, keeping me company when I'm up while the rest of the house is asleep. Plus, it's fun to peek in on them to see them just hanging around:

Having shipped more than 1 million frogs nationwide last year, Wild Creations does all that they can to ensure that you have a great experience working with them. If taken care of properly, their African Dwarf Frogs can live anywhere from 3 - 5 years perfectly content in their EcoAquarium!

I was able to speak with their customer service after having an issue with our frogs and they really do care about each and every one of the animals that they send out (as well as their customers, of course). They do guarantee a safe delivery and that your frogs will arrive to you ready to be a loyal pet for years to come. Have a question about your frogs? You can contact Wild Creations any time through their website or get a quick, personalized answer on Facebook - they're always there to help!

An EcoAquarium from Wild Creations provides the most entertaining, hassle-free, low-maintenance pet that I've come across - plus, they're a lot of fun! Why not surprise the animal-lover in your life (young or old!) with a way to enjoy nature and learning through a pair of adorable African Dwarf Frogs? For a great discount, from now until July 31, 2010, if you order the Jewel Starter Kit EcoAquarium (retail price $39.99) and enter BLOGGER at checkout, you'll receive $10 off your entire order!

Not only that, thanks to the generosity of Wild Creations, one person will have the chance to bring home everything they need to have fun and easy pets (including the pets!), because...

One lucky person will win a Classic EcoAquarium Starter Kit! ARV $30!

To enter to win: Browse the Wild Creations catalog and tell me the name of one of the 40+ new products they are introducing in 2010 OR visit Wild Creations and tell me something interesting you found out about the company.

Extra Entries (available after the mandatory entry above is completed; please leave a separate comment for each entry in order for them to be counted).

1 Extra Entry (per method) if you subscribe to the Wild Creations YouTube feed, follow the Wild Creations Frog Blog with Google Friend Connect and/or Like Wild Creations on Facebook. 1 more Extra Entry if you fill in the blank and leave the following message on their wall: Wild Creations' EcoAquariums are _________! I would love to win one on Thanks, Mail Carrier! http://bit.ly/aoauZ71 Extra Entry (per giveaway entered) - Enter any (or all) of the giveaways running on Thanks, Mail Carrier for the duration of this giveaway.1 Extra Entry if you follow me on Twitter and tweet about this giveaway by copying and pasting the tweet below and leaving me the link. Tweet daily for an extra entry every day!

2 Extra Entries (per follow method) if you follow me with Google Friend Connect, subscribe to my RSS feed, subscribe to Thanks, Mail Carrier by email or become a fan on Facebook.3 Extra Entries if you put my cute button up on your blog. Please leave an address where it can be found.3 Extra Entries if you blog about this giveaway linking back to Thanks, Mail Carrier and Wild Creations. Please leave an address where it can be found.Giveaway will end on July 15th at 11:59pm CST. Do me the favor of leaving an email address or making absolutely sure it is visible in your profile, I have to have a way to contact the winner. The winner will be chosen by random.org and announced here as well as emailed and will have 48 hours to contact me or respond to notification or a new winner will be chosen. This giveaway is open to U.S. residents only.

A big thank you to Wild Creations for providing a Classic EcoAquarium Starter Kit for me to review as well as for one lucky giveaway winner. The opinions shared are my own and honest and if you really need to see more, click here to see how I roll.

Hi, hope its OK to contact you here. would love to include your blog on our giveaway blog network: Giveaway Scout (http://www.giveawayscout.com). Have a look and if interested drop us a line on our contact form (http://www.giveawayscout.com/contact/). thanks, Josh"

I think it's awesome they have partnered with the Horry County Disabilities and Special Needs Board which coordinates services for individuals with mental retardation, autism, or who have experienced brain or spinal cord injury. txgigggles@yahoo.com